


Nightmare Prevention Club

by buoyantsaturn



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Jealousy, M/M, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson Friendship, Nightmares, Sleepovers, just a tiny bit at the end, nico and percy are FRIENDS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24773647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “So,” Nico started, unsure of how to keep a conversation moving. “Um. What’s homework?”
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 17
Kudos: 254
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	Nightmare Prevention Club

**Author's Note:**

> happy solangelo week!! here's some percy&nico bonding with a hint of solangelo at the end

Nico didn’t want to do it, but he’d run out of options. 

He knocked on the door in front of him, more than tempted to bolt, but the door opened. Light spilled from inside the cabin and out onto the porch.

“Oh,” Percy said, surprise overtaking his features, “you’re not Annabeth.” He grinned. “I shoulda known; she never knocks. What’s up, Neeks?”

For probably the first time, Nico’s fight-or-flight instinct was leaning heavily toward  _ flight. _ “Sorry, I should go.”

“No, wait, hang on a second,” Percy said, dropping a hand on Nico’s shoulder when he turned to leave. Nico ducked out from under the touch immediately, shooting a glare over his shoulder. “Sorry, forgot - no touching. Come inside for a minute before the harpies catch us.”

Percy stepped out of the doorway, holding the door open for Nico to step inside. After the smallest of hesitations, Nico entered. As Percy crossed the cabin, making himself comfortable as he sat on the edge of his bed, Nico lingered awkwardly by the door. He looked around the space, noting that just about every light inside the cabin was on, and the only made bed in the cabin - Percy’s - was covered in textbooks and loose papers. 

“So,” Percy prompted, “what’s up?”

Nico folded his arms over his chest to hide his shaking hands under his arms. “Do you ever have nightmares? About...you know.”

Just the simple implication seemed to drain all of the joy out of Percy’s expression, so Nico knew for sure that they were on the same page. “All the time,” Percy answered. “Sleeping with the lights on helps, you know. And having somebody else with you helps, too - which I know is pretty hard for the two of us, since we don’t have any siblings here. Is it better when Hazel visits? Or when you stayed in the infirmary right after the war?”

Nico thought about it for a second, then nodded. 

“Do you wanna sleep here tonight?”

Nico stared at him in surprise, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of how to answer. Eventually, he managed to ask, “You would be okay with that? Even though I used to…?”

Percy shrugged, and leaned back on his hands. “Yeah, dude. The past is in the past. Besides, you said yourself that you’re over me, and you’re dating Will now, right? So it’s fine. And, uh, Annabeth will probably show up sooner or later - you know, for the same reason you did - so if you’re cool, I’m cool.”

Nico didn’t move, either further into the cabin or to leave, so Percy patted the space beside him and said, “Well? What are you waiting for? A written invitation?”

Nico’s nerves shot up again. “You mean, in the same bed? With you?”

“None of the other beds have sheets or pillows, so if you wanna sleep on a bare mattress, be my guest, but I promise I won’t bite.” Percy took a moment to gather all of the papers he had spread around so that most of the bed was clear and he had a single stack of paper. “I’m gonna be up for a while longer doing homework, anyway, but feel free to get some rest. You look like you need it.”

Nico glared, huffing as he finally moved from his spot by the door. He climbed up onto the bed and sat down near the foot, leaning up against the wall and drawing his knees up to his chest. “So,” Nico started, unsure of how to keep a conversation moving. “Um. What’s homework?”

Percy burst out laughing, holding his stomach as he rocked back into his pillow. “Oh my gods, you’re  _ serious, _ aren’t you?” he said, though it didn’t sound teasing. “Sorry, man, that was just the funniest thing I’ve heard all night.  _ Whoo. _ Alright. It’s, like, school work, but some teachers are evil and decide to waste time during class, so you can’t do the school work during school. So it becomes homework.”

Nico scrunched up his nose. “What’s the point in going to school if you have to do all the work at home, anyway?”

“Exactly!” Percy exclaimed. “Dude, you are  _ so _ lucky you don’t have to go to school. If it wasn’t for my mom and Annabeth, I might’ve dropped out a long time ago. Like, look at this.” Percy leaned over to show Nico a page of his homework, which to Nico looked like nothing more than a jumble of numbers, letters, and symbols. “What on Gaea’s green earth even  _ is  _ that?”

“And you’re supposed to...read that somehow?” Nico guessed.

“Oh, not just that. I have to  _ solve equations. _ I can barely  _ read, _ let alone  _ think. _ Man, I’d ask you to help if you could, but I doubt they even  _ had _ algebra in the forties.”

Nico snorted. “No, they did.”

Percy’s eyes widened with something akin to hope. “They did? Can you help?”

“I think you forget that I was  _ ten. _ And also that algebra is a concept that dates back to the ancient world,” Nico pointed out. “Is the pythagorean theorem on there anywhere? I know that.”

_ “Why _ do you know that? Do I wanna know?”

“Pythagorus is serving time in the Fields of Punishment, and I made the mistake of talking to him once. He’s very proud of his theorem. Wouldn’t let me leave until I understood it. Shakespeare is the same way about meters.”

“Damn Brits and their metric system.”

“Shakespeare was Scottish, and meter refers to a speech pattern.”

“You know all of that, but you can’t help me with  _ math?” _

Suddenly, the cabin door opened, and Nico froze. He feared for a second that Chiron would appear to force Nico back to his own cabin, but instead, Annabeth entered. She looked just as surprised to see Nico as he did to see her, but she didn’t question his presence. Instead, she closed the door behind herself and crossed the cabin, making herself comfortable beside Percy on the bed. 

She peered over Percy’s shoulder at the paper and said, “Logarithms?” 

Nico’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Log...rhythms?”

Percy grinned at him, but Annabeth simply rolled her eyes and got to work explaining.

Nico had always enjoyed learning - history had always been his favorite subject - so he crawled up the bed so that he could see what the two of them were talking about in the hopes that he could follow along. He’d never been a fan of math, but he had to admit that he was curious, and watched over Percy’s shoulder as he and Annabeth solved every equation on the sheet. 

His eyes had started to slip shut somewhere near the end, and he probably would have fallen asleep with his head on Percy’s shoulder if Annabeth hadn’t woken him with a single call of his name.

He sat up and rubbed at his eyes as Annabeth said, “If you’re tired, you should get some rest. We’ll both be here if you need us.”

Nico shook his head. “I’m fine.”

But Annabeth wasn’t taking no for an answer. “It’s the nightmares, right?” She waited until Nico nodded before she continued. “When Percy and I have bad nights, we sleep in shifts - I keep watch while Percy sleeps, and he does the same for me. If Percy starts to have a nightmare while I’m keeping watch, I’m always able to wake him up before things get bad. And I’ll do the same for you. And so will Percy.” She elbowed him in the side.

“Yeah,” Percy agreed, “what she said.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Nico said, but made no move to lay down. “Um. I can take the first watch if you two want to sleep.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. “When was the last time you got more than two solid hours of sleep?”

Nico started to think about it, but before he could respond, Percy pulled a blanket up over Nico’s legs and pushed gently on Nico’s shoulder until he started to lay back. “That’s too long,” Percy told him. “Get some sleep. One of us will wake you up for the seven AM shift.”

Nico sat up again. “But breakfast is at eight! How is that fair?”

Annabeth replied, “Well, maybe if Percy had finished his homework on time, he would get to sleep first. But until that happens, go to sleep, Nico. We’ll try to keep the talking to a minimum so we don’t wake you.”

Nico started to lay back down, but before his head hit the pillow, he said, “Actually, um. Talk all you want. I think it...helps.”

“Will do,” Percy told him, patting Nico’s head until Nico swatted his hand away and laid down. “You okay with sleeping with the lights on?” Nico nodded. “Alright, dude, sleep tight.”

Nico shut his eyes and let himself be lulled to sleep by the sound of Annabeth rambling about numbers and angles and something called a cosecant. 

When Nico woke up the next morning, the sun was shining through the windows of the Poseidon cabin, and he heard chatter coming from outside. Nico sat up and noticed that he was alone in the bed - Annabeth was gone from the cabin completely, and Percy was by the door tying his shoes. 

Nico frowned at him. “You didn’t wake me up for the seven AM watch.”

Percy grinned right back. “Yeah, well, you can watch over me while I eat, like, ten pancakes at breakfast, if you want. You’re always welcome at the Poseidon table, you know.”

Nico shook his head and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “No thanks. I have a doctor’s note to sit at the Apollo table.”

“Ah, right. Of course, how could I forget?” Percy said, standing up straight and reaching for the door. “Well, you can stay here and sleep a little while longer, if you want, too, but I’m  _ starving, _ so I’m heading out.”

Nico stood and crossed the cabin. “I should eat, too.” He walked through the doorway as Percy held the door for him once again, but stopped on the porch. 

“Dude, did you walk here barefoot last night?” Percy asked as he shut the door, noting Nico’s bare feet, which were half covered by his too-long pajama pants. 

Nico rolled his eyes. “No, I shadowtraveled. Duh.”

“Hang on for a second,” Percy told him, and stepped back into the cabin, returning after a moment with a pair of flip flops. “Just get those back to me whenever, okay?”

“Thanks.” Nico took the shoes and slipped them on his feet, then shifted awkwardly for a moment before darting toward Percy for a hug. “And thanks for letting me stay here.”

Percy seemed so stunned that he wasn’t able to return the hug before Nico pulled away. He quickly masked his surprise with a grin, and said, “Anytime, dude. Happy to help.”

They parted ways, Percy heading to the pavilion for breakfast and Nico returning to his cabin to change out of his pajamas. It wasn’t long before Nico was sitting down beside his boyfriend at the Apollo table with a plate of pancakes. He received a few strange looks from some of Will’s siblings, but weirdest of all was the fact that Will wouldn’t seem to look at him, instead focusing all of his attention on stabbing at his pancakes with more force than necessary. 

Nico elbowed him in the side and asked, “What’s up?”

Will’s anger seemed to dissipate into something akin to sadness in seconds. “It’s nothing,” he muttered. “I just… I saw you leaving Percy’s cabin this morning. Did you...spend the night there?”

“Yeah, why?”

Will’s shoulders seemed to hunch inward. “Well, do you...you know,  _ like _ him?”

Nico felt his face heating up at the implication of Will’s words, and he exclaimed, “Ew, no!  _ Percy? _ No way, that’s  _ gross!” _

Will didn’t seem convinced. “Then why were you there?”

“He’s one of my best friends,” Nico answered, the words coming out without much thought, yet he found them to be true. It was like a complete one-eighty from when he was in Croatia -  _ I’m in love with Percy Jackson, _ a complete lie, becoming  _ He’s one of my best friends, _ an absolute truth. It was... _ refreshing. _ “He was helping me deal with some nightmares.”

“Oh,” Will said plainly, and in a quieter voice muttered,  _ “I _ can help you deal with nightmares, too, you know.”

Nico leaned forward in order to get a better look at Will’s face - he was blushing, looking embarrassed and flustered. “Are you  _ jealous?” _

Will hesitated.  _ “...No.” _

Nico smacked Will’s arm. “Will! I’m  _ your _ boyfriend.  _ Your… _ What was it,  _ special guy? _ Your significant--”

“Annoyance,” Will huffed.

Nico grinned. “That’s right!” He bumped Will’s shoulder with his own. “You know I need to keep finding ways to annoy you to keep you interested.”

Finally, Will looked up at him, a mixture of surprise and hurt in his eyes as he said, “Don’t say that! I will  _ always _ be interested in you, annoyance or not!”

The two of them wore matching blushes as Will reached over and held Nico’s hand under the table. Nico noticed a spark of determination in Will’s eyes seconds before he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek. “I really,  _ really _ like you, Nico. I’m sorry for being jealous.”

With his free hand, Nico reached up and angled Will’s face so that Nico could lean in to kiss him - just the lightest touch of his lips to Will’s. He settled back in his seat and squeezed Will’s hand. “You’re forgiven.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!   
> check out solangeloweek on tumblr for more solangelo content!! ((and some content that has much more solangelo than this fic has lmao))


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